Prosecutor: Kwame Kilpatrick says he can't make payments but is spending 'like a multimillionaire'

Live video screenshotKwame Kilpatrick testifies on Nov. 17, 2009.A clearly frustrated Kwame Kilpatrick repeated at a restitution hearing Tuesday that he has no control over his wife's finances, nor any idea of the number of Carlita Kilpatrick's checking or savings accounts.

The ex-Detroit mayor's testimony in Wayne County Circuit Court was halted frequently as Kilpatrick balked or was slow to answer a number of questions from Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Athina Siringas.

When asked how many bank accounts he has had since March 2008, Kilpatrick said he couldn't remember, but that he was sure of a Chase Bank checking account.

Kilpatrick also said he had nothing to do with his wife's finances.

"I have my account. I give money to my wife. I don't know where that money goes," he said.

Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008 after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice and pleading no contest to assault related to the January 2008 release of sexually explicit text messages between him and his former chief of staff. Those messages contradicted testimony Kilpatrick had given in an earlier police whistle-blowers' lawsuit.

He spent 99 days in jail and was ordered to repay the city $1 million. As of last month, he owed the city $914,000.

Kilpatrick wants a judge to lower his $6,000 monthly restitution to $3,000. Prosecutors are trying to prove that Kilpatrick has not reported all of his income and finances as ordered by Judge David Groner. They accuse the former mayor of trying to circumvent the order by putting money into various accounts bearing Carlita Kilpatrick's name.

The couple and their three young sons live in a leased mansion in an affluent Dallas suburb. He and his wife both drive luxury sport utility vehicles.

"He's spending money like he is a multimillionaire," Siringas said in court.

Groner agreed with Siringas that Kilpatrick never supplied information on bank accounts and other financial documentation. Defense attorney Michael Alan Schwartz has fought the filing of such information on the Kilpatricks' finances as evidence.

Kilpatrick took a job in February as a sales representative for Covisint, a Texas-based subsidiary of Compuware Corp., which has its headquarters in Detroit. His salary was reduced after his first six months on the job to a new monthly base pay of $10,000.

"It's very tough making this payment every month," Kilpatrick testified Tuesday of the current restitution amount.

Kilpatrick testified last month that he still owes attorneys $650,000 and eventually has to repay personal loans totaling $240,000 to four Detroit business executives, including Peter Karmanos, Compuware's chairman and CEO.